Aetna Relaunches iTriage, Blue Cross Unveils Mobile Health Site

Aetna has relaunched its iTriage app on its new CarePass open-data platform, while Blue Cross unveiled a new mobile health site in North Carolina.

Aetna has launched
a new version of its iTriage mobile application, the first
software program on its new open-data platform called CarePass.
CarePass allows patients to share data
across multiple applications, and by June it will enable developers to create
mobile health tools for the platform. Aetna plans to add more apps to CarePass
later this year.

The platform
will be open to any insurance carrier or consumer to use, and data will be
available to third parties as well, Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark
Bertolini said at a March 5 New York launch event for iTriage. In June, Aetna
plans to launch a health care IT app store with the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).

Aetna will
also integrate open data from HHS into its CarePass platform so developers can
use the data to create mobile health tools, said Todd Park, chief technology
officer at HHS. (Park was just named by the Obama
administration to succeed Aneesh Chopra as the
nation's chief technology officer.)
HHS'
meaningful-use incentive program for electronic health records provides guidance
on data-transfer standards and making data more interoperable, Park told eWEEK at the Aetna event. HHS is working
to convert hospital-quality data into accessible and machine-readable APIs, he
said.
"What
we're trying to do is make it easier for third-party developers to use," said
Park.

On Dec. 15,
Aetna announced that it acquired Healthagen, the developer of iTriage. The
carrier will demonstrate the new features of iTriage at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, from March 12-15.
Using iTriage, consumers
can use an iPhone or Android device to research symptoms, search for medical
providers and schedule appointments with doctors who match specific criteria the patients set. The new version
provides more specific criteria for finding providers, including searching by
gender and language spoken, as well as providers' years of experience. The enhanced
app also includes patient reviews and a medical news feed.

Brian T. Horowitz is a freelance technology and health writer as well as a copy editor. Brian has worked on the tech beat since 1996 and covered health care IT and rugged mobile computing for eWEEK since 2010. He has contributed to more than 20 publications, including Computer Shopper, Fast Company, FOXNews.com, More, NYSE Magazine, Parents, ScientificAmerican.com, USA Weekend and Womansday.com, as well as other consumer and trade publications. Brian holds a B.A. from Hofstra University in New York.